The company has since won awards for its unique 'recruitment marketplace' model, which helps companies find and work with independent recruitment agencies online.

Stevens said: "Better Bathrooms has been using Hiring-Hub.com successfully for over a year and, as a customer, when I heard about the fundraise I was keen to invest.

"With a fast-growth, nationwide business like Better Bathrooms recruitment can be a struggle, but Hiring-Hub.com made it much easier for us – it's a fantastic proposition and has helped us recruit experienced hires across our business."

Gilbert, who is chairman of Better Bathrooms, The Gym, and Clothingsites.co.uk, was introduced to Hiring-Hub.com’s potential by Stevens.

He said: "It is a fantastic online tool that is well-placed to fundamentally change the way companies engage and trade with third-party recruitment agencies, so I was interested straight away.

"The management team has done well to build a stable and sustainable business, so I am looking forward to working closely with them to help it scale."

Hiring-Hub.com serves more than 500 companies, predominantly in the private sector, who upload their vacancies to the marketplace, and handpick specialist recruitment agencies that compete to fill each vacancy for a fee set by the employer.

The recent investment takes the firm's total funding to over £925,000 and will be used to accelerate sales and marketing activity, and develop its online platform.

Simon Swan, co-founder of Hiring-Hub.com, said: "That the senior team of one of our customers chose to invest really validates our product and service, and is a real coup for us.

"Paul and Colin’s experience and insight is already proving valuable. We're confident they will help Sara and I steer the business through a period of sustained growth."